CENTRAL FALLS, R.I. -- The full force of
organized labor showed up in Central Falls Tuesday,
with several hundred union members rallying in support
of the city's teachers and bringing plenty of harsh
words for the education officials who were about to
fire the entire teaching staff at Central Falls High
School.

"This is immoral, illegal, unjust, irresponsible,
disgraceful and disrespectful," said George Nee,
president of the Rhode Island AFL-CIO, to shouts and
cheers from a crowd of more than 500 at Jenks Park.
"What is happening here tonight is the wrong thing ...
and we're not going to put up with it."

Signaling the national significance of the situation in
Central Falls, the American Federation of Teachers sent
representative Mark Bostic with a message of support
from the union's 1.4 million members.

"We are behind Central Falls teachers, and we will be
here as long as it takes to get justice," said Bostic.

Meanwhile, state and local education officials received
some high-powered support of their own, when U.S.
Education Secretary Arne Duncan weighed in, saying he
"applauded" them for "showing courage and doing the
right thing for kids."

Busloads of teachers from across the state turned out.

"I think the real goal is to bust the unions," said
Julie Boyle, an English teacher at Coventry High
School. "Sometimes a teacher is the only touchstone in
a student's life. I'm sad for the students who will
lose their touchstones."

Just an hour after the rally, the Central Falls school
Board of Trustees, in a brief but intense meeting,
voted 5-2 to fire every teacher at the school. In all,
93 names were read aloud in the high school auditorium
-- 74 classroom teachers, plus reading specialists,
guidance counselors, physical education teachers, the
school psychologist, the principal and three assistant
principals.

Each educator stood as their name was called, many
wearing red, one of the school's colors. Some cried.

"Shame on you," a few of the teachers shouted at the
trustees and Supt. Frances Gallo.

The state's tiniest, poorest city has become the center
of a national battle over dramatic school reform. On
the one side, federal and state education officials say
they must take painful and dramatic steps to transform
the nation's lowest-performing schools. On the other
side, teachers unions say such efforts undermine
hard-won protections in their contracts.

"This is hard work and these are tough decisions, but
students only have one chance for an education,"
Education Secretary Duncan said, "and when schools
continue to struggle we have a collective obligation to
take action."

Duncan is requiring states, for the first time, to
identify their lowest 5 percent of schools -- those that
have chronically poor performance and low graduation
rates -- and fix them using one of four methods: school
closure; takeover by a charter or school-management
organization; transformation which requires a longer
school day, among other changes; and "turnaround" which
requires the entire teaching staff be fired and no more
than 50 percent rehired in the fall.

State Education Commissioner Deborah A. Gist moved
swiftly on this new requirement, identifying on Jan. 11
six of the "persistently lowest-performing" schools:
Central Falls High School, which has very low test
scores and a graduation rate of 48 percent, and five
schools in Providence. Gist also started the clock on
the changes, telling the districts they had until March
17 to decide which of the models they wanted to use.
Her actions make Rhode Island one of the first states
to publicly release a list of affected schools and put
into motion the new federal mandate.

Gallo and the teachers initially agreed they wanted the
transformation model, which would protect the teachers'
jobs.

But talks broke down when the two sides could not agree
on what transformation entailed.

Gallo wanted teachers to agree to a set of six
conditions she said were crucial to improving the
school. Teachers would have to spend more time with
students in and out of the classroom and commit to
training sessions after school with other teachers.

But Gallo said she could pay teachers for only some of
the extra duties. Union leaders said they wanted
teachers to be paid for more of the additional work and
at a higher pay rate -- $90 per hour rather than the $30
per hour offered by Gallo.

After negotiations broke down, Gallo said she no longer
had confidence the high school could be transformed and
instead recommended the turnaround model. Gist approved
Gallo's proposal Tuesday morning and gave the district
120 days to develop a detailed plan.

Supt. Frances Gallo sought to have teachers agree to
six conditions she said were crucial to improving the
school.

Jane Sessums, president of the Central Falls Teachers'
Union, said she is reviewing several legal options but
has not decided what course of action she will take.

B.K. Nordan, one of two trustees who voted against
firing all the teachers, nevertheless delivered some of
the harshest words of the evening to the high school's
teaching staff. Nordan, a graduate of Central Falls
High School, now works as a teacher in Providence.

The Providence Journal / Connie Grosch

"I don't believe this is a worker's rights issue. I
believe it's a children's rights issue," Nordan said.
"...By every statistical measure I've seen, we are not
doing a good enough job for our students ... The rhetoric
that these are poor students, ESL students, you can
imagine the home lives ... this is exactly why we need
you to step up, regardless of the pay, regardless of
the time involved. This city needs it more than
anybody. I demand of you that you demand more of
yourself and those around you."

A national dilemma

Even in a school system known for its academic
troubles, the numbers at Philadelphia's Vaux High
School are jaw-dropping: More than 90 percent of
11th-graders tested last year could not read or do math
at grade level.

But next fall, at least half the teachers at Vaux and
13 more of Philadelphia's worst schools could be gone.
And the school day, school week and school year could
be longer.

While federal law has long allowed the overhaul of
chronically failing schools, such extreme makeovers are
likely to become more common because of more money from
Washington, a growing consensus on education reform,
and newfound willingness on the part of teacher unions
to collaborate, experts say.

Minnesota expects to remake 34 schools by the time
students return next fall. Philadelphia plans on
transforming dozens in the coming years, and New Haven,
Conn., has targeted some of its schools as well.

Associated Press

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